I have often intended to eat
one, as the natives consider them a great delicacy, but I have
never been quite hungry enough to make the trial whenever one was
at hand. The "cabra goya" is a horrid brute, and is not
considered eatable even by the Cingalese.
One curious species of lizard exists in Ceylon; it is little
brown species with a peculiarly rough skin and a serrated spine.
A long horn projects from the snout, and it is a fac-simile in
miniature of the antediluvian monster, the "iguanodon," who was
about a hundred feet long and twelve feet thick - an awkward
creature to meet in a narrow road. However, the crocodiles of
modern times are awkward enough for the present day, and
sometimes grow to the immense length of twenty two feet.
It has frequently surprised me that they do not upset the small
canoes in which the natives paddle about the lakes and rivers.
These are formed in the simplest manner, of very rude materials,
by hollowing out a small log of wood and attaching an outrigger.
Some of these are so small that the gunwale is close to the
water's edge when containing only one person.
Even the large sea-canoes are constructed on a similar principle;
but they are really very wonderful boats for both speed and
safety.
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